XXL Freshmen 2013 Report Card

Each year, XXL presents its list of the best Freshmen for the coming year, and each year that means another class has moved on to sophomore status. But just getting on the Freshmen List doesn’t guarantee success—we like to say that it means the work really begins right then and there. Last year, we asked you, our readers, if the 11 assembled rappers—Ab-Soul, Action Bronson, Angel Haze, Chief Keef, Dizzy Wright, Joey Bada$$, Kirko Bangz, Logic, ScHoolboy Q, Travi$ Scott and Trinidad Jame$—comprised the Best Class Ever, and we were excited to see what type of progress and success would fall on their shoulders.

Things turned out to be a mixed bag, as they tend to be. ScHoolboy Q nabbed himself a No. 1 album with February’s Oxymoron, while Angel Haze’s debut for Republic, Dirty Gold, stumbled out of the gate. Action Bronson made waves by release project after project, while Chief Keef stayed in the headlines more for his arrest record than his music. And while Dizzy Wright, Joey Bada$$ and Kirko Bangz were able to put out solid projects, Logic and Ab-Soul were largely silent when it came to new releases. Click the Year-End Report Card above to see the larger version of the card, and check out all our XXL 2014 Freshmen Class freestyles, interviews and stat boxes right here.